First off, this is a topic I am so passionate about it will be posted on my non-gaming blog as well. I woke up this morning and read a post from Belghast from my Twitter gaming feed. So far nothing unusual there but the first half of his post made me grind my teeth which is unusual. In response to a blog piece written by someone he follows, he re-tweeted the blog twice and there was some long involved Twitter chatter about it yesterday.

All well and good, nothing abnormal so far but then apparently the chatter devolved when another person chimed in to state that the author of the original blog piece was “pretty”. Apparently, this became objectification of women as sexual objects and the man (presumably) was lectured, instructed, on why this was inappropriate. I freely admit I didn’t read the conversation because quite frankly, I am so incredibly tired of this victim thread/conversation types.

I’m a woman and by God I am sick of this crap from women! A man pays you a compliment and instantly you are a sexual object? Whatever happened to taking the compliment gracefully and moving on? If the behavior is so offensive, then you could have just muted or blocked the offending user instead, as I understand it from Belghast’s blog this morning, the poor bloke got called out on social media for being male.

Yes, it can be uncomfortable as any person when someone else pays you a compliment that is unexpected, unsolicited, and out of left field. But that doesn’t mean you’ve become a sexual object by any means. It used to be a simple act of common courtesy to pay compliments to others. Now it has become grounds for harassment, “objectionification”, and more.

Free speech isn’t just speech that makes you comfortable. Free speech means everyone is free to engage is speech regardless of the feelings of others. You have the choice to engage those whose speech you disagree with either verbally, written, or by ignoring said speaker. You do not have the right to shut down the speech of others because it makes you uncomfortable.

Whatever happened to civil dialogue between those that disagree? Whatever happened to difference of opinion that where freely expressed? Whatever happened to the knowledge that differing ideas are what founded this country and once made Her great?

Oh yeah, political correctness and hurt feelings run amuck happened. If you don’t like the speech of another, then there are better options than playing the victim card. Learn from the differences, engage the other person to see if you can find common ground, ignore them, or just walk away for a while. But please, for the sake of sanity and common dignity don’t play the victim card and deny someone else the right to their freedom of expression.

For those of you that don’t know, the Expanded Universe (EU) is the collection of novels, comics, games, and television shows that exist outside of the six movies. That EU is a rich and diverse galaxy of species, characters, and stories that I will admit I didn’t know existed in such great depth until a couple of years ago.

On April 25th Star Wars announced what is and is not canon from that date forward. The announcement caused a wide range of reactions from fans, ranging from relief to outrage. To simplify the details, the movies are canon, anything released posted 25th of April is canon, and everything else is now considered non-canon and Legacy. That means The Clone Wars isn’t canon but the new Rebels which begins this Fall is canon.

I’m not upset with this decision. It works well for everyone if they stop and think about the announcement rationally. The announcement doesn’t destroy loved characters like Mara Jade or invalidate lore the exists in the Knights of the Old Republic stories. It leaves all of that intact and calls those works Legacy.

Legacies are something we all grow up with, stories passed down from one generation to the next. Legacies change and grow with each retelling. Some are better at paining a picture with words than others, but each story teller brings something new and unique to the story.

I play Star Wars: The Old Republic and my very first modern video game (not Pac-Man era) was Star Wars: Knights of the The Republic. KOTOR reignited my life long love of the movies and caused me to discover the amazing world that is the EU. SWTOR is a fantastic game that delivers fantastic stories and emotional ones. SWTOR may not be what the die-hard fanboy may have wanted but then again no game or novel can ever satisfy every Star Wars fan. If you haven’t played KOTOR I highly recommend it. SWTOR is my default game of choice, the one I come back to after “cheating” on it with some other game momentarily.

Audible.com is my go to source for EU novels. All of the expected sound effects are present to bring a EU story to life, from the roar of hyper drive engines to the activation of a light saber. I highly recommend audible books for highly entertaining Star Wars stories, canon and legacy alike.

September 2014 will see the first release of a canon novel since the announcement and new novels in November 2014 and then January and March 2015 already announced. Legacy novels and comics will continue to be published and released as newly branded Star Wars Legends banners added to the title page.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the continuity of story lines and knowing that stories from the past haven’t been wiped off the slate never to be released again. I can continue to play SWTOR and enjoy my time there, knowing that while it might not be canon it hasn’t been forgotten and trashed in the larger universe of Star Wars. What I am looking forward to the most is discovering what if any finds its way from the EU into canon. Will Mara Jade and Luke still be? Will the much beloved Ahsoka Tano somehow be honored in canon? Only time will tell and like all Star Wars stories, the discovery of a new story is a large part of the fun.

by Michelle Rene Goodhew. I am focused on the business of writing, being an artist, and general self improvement. I am seeking commissions as an artist doing portraits, illustration or graphic design. You can contact me by email: goodhewmichelle@gmail.com

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